“Hush! I hear some one. It is the doctor. Be careful; we must try and deceive him.” And he shrank down again in his seat.
The door was opened, and Dr. Krauss came in. He glanced round, and his eyes fell upon the young Prince in his strange masquerade.
He turned sternly to the King.
“What do you mean by this, Sire? These things must be taken from you if you play such tricks. Be good enough to take them off, your Royal Highness,” he added, speaking to Ernest, “and come back to your apartments.”
And after helping the dazed lad to rid himself of the royal insignia, he took him by the hand and led him out.
The King walked towards the window.
CHAPTER XXIII
HERMENGARDE’S TRIUMPH
As the door of the cabinet closed, leaving Maximilian by himself, with the ensigns of his monarchy strewed upon the table and the floor, the clock of the Castle began to strike ten.
Before the notes had finished, a solitary horseman came riding swiftly down the road which formed the main approach to the Castle. He had come through the guarded gateway on the crest of the hill without a check, all the sentinels having presented arms as he went silently past them at full speed. He pulled up his reeking horse at the steps leading up into the Castle, and dismounted alone.
At this moment a loud splash was heard in the lake, followed by a solitary cry.